


Dark Paradise

by pleasanthell



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 19:17:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3499859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pleasanthell/pseuds/pleasanthell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shaw pet Bear as she walked past him and sat down in the computer chair. She swiveled around and looked on the computer, looking for any kind of sign.<br/>Harold stopped telling Shaw that there had been no word from Root that last time she snapped at him. He knew that Shaw wanted to know, but she would never ask. He had seen her look for any signs of the hacker every time she re-entered their home base.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Shaw had been back to work for three months. She had been rescued and then subjected to an intense rehab by Harold to make sure that nothing Samaritan had done to her was permanent. It took months for him to clear her for work. But when she came back, she came back with a vengeance. For the moment, Samaritan had backed down, a tense truce between the two AIs had been reached. So they were back to what they had done before, chasing numbers. 

Shaw and Reese walked into the subway, having been called in by Harold. Shaw pet Bear as she walked past him and sat down in the computer chair. She swiveled around and looked on the computer, looking for any kind of sign.

Harold stopped telling Shaw that there had been no word from Root that last time she snapped at him. He knew that Shaw wanted to know, but she would never ask. He had seen her look for any signs of the hacker every time she re-entered their home base.

“What's up, Harold?” Reese asked, putting his hands in his pockets.

Harold reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out an envelope, “We have a number. Antonio Sosa. From what I can tell his businesses range from high class restaurants to narcotic manufacturing and distribution.”

“A renaissance man,” Reese took the envelope from Harold and opened the flap, “Looks like we're going to Santa Monica.”

“Due to recent…. contractual disputes,” Harold explained, “Sosa is beefing up security at his Santa Monica estate. I managed to get you two jobs.”

“There will be no telling if he's in trouble or he's causing the trouble,” Shaw stood up. She walked over to the bed area and picked up the bag she kept in case she needed to leave quickly.

“Exactly,” Harold agreed.

Reese went to get his bag from inside the subway car. When he emerged he waited for Shaw by the stairs. They walked out together and started their journey west.

Shaw found the flight to Santa Monica barely tolerable. There weren't any particularly annoying passengers. She just hated being stuck in small spaces for long periods of time. She felt like a caged animal. John wasn't too fond of it either, his eyes always darting around the plane just daring someone to start some trouble.

However, the plane landed without incident and without any of the scenarios that played out in Shaw and Reese's brains. They picked up their rental car and started their drive to the coast.

As they were driving to the estate, Shaw looked out the window, “I almost forgot what sunshine looked like.”

“It's kinda nice,” Reese rolled down his window to take in the warm California afternoon.

They pulled up to a guarded gate and Reese pulled to a stop. A tall thin man with a clipboard walked from the booth to the car.

“Riley and Grey,” Reese pointed from himself to Shaw.

The guard looked at the clipboard. He nodded, “First day?”

“Yeah,” Reese answered with a friendly smile, “Any tips?”

The guard look from the gate to Reese, “Don't piss off head of security. She's had three agents fired this week.”

“Sounds like a good time,” Shaw added, looking out the window. She made a mental note to keep her mouth shut because that was usually the only way she could keep from pissing people off.

“She's a beast,” the guard added. “Good luck.” He took a small remote out of his pocket and pressed it to open the gate, “Take the first right to get to the security station.”

Reese shook the guard's hand and then drove into the estate.

Trees littered the grounds and the grass was trimmed perfectly. The winding driveway couldn't lead to anywhere visible. It seemed to disappear into the forest.

The first right led to a small cottage type structure. Reese parked next to a small line of luxury cars in a short paved lot. Shaw got out of the car first and looked around, “How much are we getting paid for this?”

“Harold didn't say,” Reese got out of his car looking around. He spotted a security camera pointing at the lot and one at the front door of the security station. “They're not messing around through.”

They walked together to the door of the cottage and before they could knock the door opened. However there didn't seem to be anyone on the other side of it.

Reese stepped in first, looking around. He noticed an electronic lock on the door and figured that someone let them in from somewhere else. The inside looked like a normal house. There was a couch and a TV sitting in the living room. A wall of windows on the other side of the living room showed a small swimming pool surrounded by wooden pool furniture. To the right was a hallway.

Shaw looked both ways when she stepped in and listened. She could hear typing from the right. When Reese looked at her, she jerked her head that way. They both took out their guns and slowly made their way down the hallway. The first room had two twin beds in it, both made perfectly. The second room looked like the first except there were bags at the foot of the beds and the blankets were askew. As they moved, the sound of the typing got louder. The door was ajar to the last room.

Reese nudged it open with his foot and peered around the corner. There was a woman sitting at a bank of computer screens. Many of the screens contained imaged from the security cameras including one that showed the hallway they were standing in.

The woman tucked some of her long wavy hair behind her ear. She didn't look away from the screens when she said, “Took you long enough.”

Reese put his gun away and stepped into the room so Shaw could stand with him. Shaw's eyes trained on the woman while Reese surveyed the rest of the room. Past the bank of monitors was a conference table.

The woman in the chair swiveled around and stood, “You must be Riley and Grey.”

Shaw nodded.

The woman quickly put her blonde hair up and jerked her head toward the conference room, “I'll brief you in there.”

Reese and Shaw walked into the conference room. They sat on opposite sides of the table, both facing the only way into the conference room.

The woman walked into the room with two files in her hand, “Okay so I was on the fence about you two until now.” She stood at the head of the table, “Your files said that you worked together before and I can tell from your overly paranoid entrance that you definitely have.” She leaned on the table and looked at both of them, “We're big on trusting your partner here so I'm going to keep you together. I'm sure that's not a problem.”

“No problem,” Reese answered. Shaw elected to keep her mouth shut so she could keep her job.

“I'm Leo,” the woman stated, “I am only Leo. No I don't have a last name. There's no use in trying to find out who I am or who I was.” She reached behind herself and turned on the TV on the wall. She moved out the way so that they could see it and gestured to the screen that popped up with a 3d model of the house, “This is the Sosa main house. It's massive and you'll get lost a few times. Do not radio me to ask for directions. You're adults, you can find your own way out. And if you can't – well – this isn't the job for you.” She reached under the table and pulled out a tablet. She slid it to Shaw.

It only took Shaw a second to figure out that the tablet controlled the 3D model on the screen. She started walking through the house with the tablet.

Leo went on, “Most of the house is covered by video surveillance. The entire perimeter is covered.”

Shaw moved to the upstairs part of the house and zoomed out so that she could get a layout. Then she saw something in the corner, “What about the pool house?”

“The pool house entrance is covered,” Leo answered, “There is a path leading north from the main house to a guest house. The path is under surveillance.” Leo leaned on the wall like she was bored, “Mr. Sosa and his fiancee conduct their business in the pool house and the guest house and they like a certain standard of privacy inside both houses. They are escorted by us from the main house to either house when they need to conduct such business. This business is not business you ask about or watch with any interest. You don't remember anything that happens in the pool house or the guest house. Understood?”

Shaw and Reese nodded in agreement. Shaw slid the tablet to Reese so he could start looking over the house.

“Hold on,” Shaw leaned forward as Reese was moving through the house. He stopped and scooted the camera back a little bit. “There's a…. door behind that bookcase.”

Leo gave a hint of a smile, “Well spotted, Grey.” She pushed off the wall and held her hand out to Reese. Reese handed her the tablet. Leo tapped around and everything went invisible except for a thin spiral stairwell. She zoomed out and two more similar stairwells appeared, “All these stairwells end at a tunnel that leads out into the ocean. It is an emergency tunnel for quick getaways. Mr. Sosa's fiancee likes to use it when she leaves.”

“Does Mr. Sosa's fiancee have a name?” Reese asked.

“I'm sure she does, but she is one in a long line that come and go,” Leo moved to her desk. She moved a paper out of the way and read something under it, “Caroline.”

“Are there going to be….other Carolines?” Shaw tried to ask as tactfully as she could, “And are they problems?”

Leo nodded, “Mr. Sosa usually entertains _company_ in the guest house. Some have been difficult to remove, but I'm sure neither one of you will have a problem doing so.”

Neither one said anything. Shaw just looked flippantly at the screen. A host of Carolines would be cake compared to what she had been through.

“Good,” Leo walked out of the room and kept talking. “You'll be staying here while you're on duty. You get a week on full-time and a week on call. Vacation isn't something you need to worry about for a few months.”

Shaw and Reese figured they were supposed to follow so they got up and caught up with Leo at the door of her surveillance room. She started walking down the hallway. She looked inside one of the rooms, “This is Conrad and Chino's room.” Leo moved to the next room, “This one is yours.” She kept walking toward the living room, “Imogene and Virgil are at the far end of the house.” Leo stopped in the living room. “When you're on call, you'll both be in here. You can watch TV or use the pool. The kitchen is fully stocked and the house staff bring three meals a day out here.” Leo exhaled and looked around, “If my door is closed, knock first.” She moved to the kitchen island and picked up two radios off of the large charger. “When you're on call or on duty, your radio is with you at all times.” She tossed one to Reese and one to Shaw.

They both clipped the radio on their belts and unraveled the earpiece that went to it. They easily put them on and checked the radio.

Leo scratched the back of her neck, “Um, the maybe future Mrs. Sosa will be arriving tonight so you two are on call until then. Settle in, whatever. Be ready at around midnight. You'll go full time after that.” Leo started to walk back into her room, but stopped just after she got into the hallway. She turned around and tilted her head, “I see everything so – no sticky fingers. There is going to be a lot of cash, a lot of drugs laying around. You get paid more than enough to buy your own.” With that she left them alone.

Reese and Shaw looked at each other and shared a shrug.

After getting their bags out of the car, they ate from the fridge and watched a baseball game. Reese went for a swim and Shaw took a nap. They were both rested and ready to go when Leo sent them outside via radio where a black golf cart was waiting for them, driven by a man in a suit. A man stepped out of the driver's seat and shook their hands, “I'm Virgil.”

Reese and Shaw gave him their fake names. They got into the golf cart and drove down the driveway to the house. The trees around the house stood tall and imposing in the dark. When the house came into view, they could finally see in person why Leo told them they were going to get lost a few times. The house was massive. It was built in an earth toned Tuscan style. Rock climbed up one side of the house from the ground to the roof.

“There's a staff of twenty-one, but not all of them are here all the time,” Virgil explained. He pulled to a stop next to the four car garage and turned off the golf cart, “Since you two are new, I'll go with you once, but every other hour, you need to sweep the grounds.” Virgil's hulking figure walked swiftly around the side of the house. “Don't use the front door unless it's an emergency or you're escorting someone.”

Around the back corner of the house, sprawling grounds laid out before them. The greenest grass led to a massive pool. Next to the pool was the pool house larger than both Reese and Shaw's apartment's combined. They could see stairs leading down a hill which they both knew led to the guest house.

“You two are going to walk with me down the tunnel,” Virgil stated, moving to a door off the side of the pool house. He opened it, “I hope neither one of your are claustrophobic.”

Shaw looked over at Reese who inhaled deeply and held his breath as they moved down the spiral staircase. When they got into the tunnel, Shaw looked behind them. There was a light at the very top of the arch every couple feet, but it was still dim. Reese reached out and touched both sides of the tunnel as they walked.

They walked for a few hundred yards, coming out onto a beach. Shaw looked up and saw cliffs towering over them, the lights from the grounds were the only thing lighting the dim beach.

Virgil pointed Shaw and Reese in opposite directions down the beach as a boat motored toward them. “Sweep the beach.”

They both walked down the wide beach in opposite directions. Shaw walked as far as she thought she needed to. She turned on her radio, “I'm all clear this way.”

“All clear,” Reese added.

Virgil radioed back for them to hold their positions until Sosa's fiancee was into the tunnel. Then he called them back, telling them to sweep the grounds when they got back. Shaw waited for Reese at the entrance of the tunnel. The boat that had dropped off the lady of the house was speeding away into the night.

“There's stairs that go up that way,” Reese informed Shaw as they started walking down the tunnel. Because of how straight it was they could see the back of two guards walking behind the future Mrs. Sosa, but they couldn't hear what was being said.

“You think Sosa is gonna try to knock her off?” Shaw asked, walking along the dim tunnel. “Hook up with one of his girlfriends?”

“It's possible,” Reese answered, “I don't know how we're going to get close enough to find out.”

“While we're doing our rounds, see if you can get eyes on Sosa,” Shaw told Reese as they walked past one set of spiral stairs ascending to the roof of the tunnel, “I'll see what I can find out about Caroline.”

Reese agreed.

They split up when they got to the main house. Shaw went inside and Reese went to the guest house to see if Sosa was _entertaining_ anyone.

There was a wall of sliding glass doors facing the pool from the ground floor of the main house. All the glass had been slid to the side, allowing the cool ocean air and move freely into the house. Just inside, a long dining table stood, set but empty. The kitchen was on the other side of a swing door. Everything in the house was pristine. It didn't seem like there was anything out of place. Shaw moved to the living room and looked out the window at the pool that was lit up against the almost pitch black, star littered sky. Pool furniture lined the pool. She picked out one of the chairs that seemed to be a favorite of whoever frequented the pool the most. The cushions looked more used and there were faint water rings on the wooden table next to it.

Shaw found a set of stairs and made a mental note of them, deciding to clear the entire ground floor before ascending. She ran into multiple house staff as she made her way around. She asked a few some simple question that seemed innocent enough, but told her volumes. From what she gathered, the future Mrs. Sosa wasn't just a trophy wife that lounged around all day.

Shaw found a place in the hallway where the staff bedrooms were that the cameras couldn't see. She sent Reese a text and a few seconds later, her unofficial earpiece started beeping. She answered her phone without looking. “Reese.”

“You think Caroline is a madam?” Reese asked.

“I was talking to some of the staff,” Shaw quietly replied, moving through the hallway and into another one. “She's either a madam or she has more girlfriends on the side than Antonio. Girlfriends with large wads of cash they like to hand over to her for fun.”

“So Mr. and Mrs. Crime Lord,” Reese continued his hike around the grounds. “They're perfect for each other.” He paused to look around, “The guest house is empty.”

“I haven't even been upstairs yet,” Shaw added. She looked around, “And I'm starting to see why Leo said we would get lost.”

“I'll bring breadcrumbs tomorrow,” Reese offered and started his way up the stairs to the main house.

They hung up, having shared the information they needed to, then continued their patrol of the house. They met by the pool around dawn watching the sky above them start to light up. Virgil told them to keep doing what they were doing. Patrols were the only thing to do while the owners of the house were asleep.

At around six thirty, the staff started waking up and moving around. The kitchen staff offered Shaw and Reese some coffee which they both gladly accepted and walked around the house again. Reese took the inside and Shaw took the outside. Just as she finished a walk around the outside of the guest house, her radio crackle. Virgil came on the line. “Mr. Sosa wants to meet you, Grey.”

“Where at?” Shaw asked back.

“The front driveway of the house,” Virgil answered.

Shaw made her way as quickly as she could to the front of the house. She saw Virgil, Reese, and a man who was probably Sosa standing by the fountain in the middle of the driveway.

Sosa was dressed in a suit probably more expensive than most people's cars. It was grey with a light purple shirt underneath it, the top button unbuttoned. He looked all the part of a businessman with his hair parted to the side and his sharp brown eyes always sizing up the people around him.

He smiled when Shaw walked up. “You must be, Ms. Grey.”

Shaw nodded and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“It's good to meet you,” he replied, a slight Central American accent apparent in his voice. He looked from Reese to Shaw, “I just like to meet the people that roam around my house. It's good to have you two here.” His smile was charming and somewhat disarming. He addressed the group, “I have some business in my office this morning and this afternoon I will on the golf course making a fool out of myself,” he chuckled at his own joke and Virgil laughed politely with him. Reese and Shaw cracked smiles because they knew they were supposed to. “I suppose tonight will be the trial by fire for you because Caroline is throwing one of her famous soirees.”

Shaw and Reese listened politely to Antonio before he excused himself to get into his Porsche. Virgil sent Shaw and Reese out on patrol again with no specific instructions. Around ten, Shaw wandered back to the kitchen for some more coffee. The staff was happy to give it to her, apparently seeing her as one of them already. She walked back out into the dining room and saw that sun starting to reflect off of the pool.

A small movement caught her eye and she saw the legs of the future Mrs. Sosa laying out on the lounge chair. Shaw started to walk to the side so that she could get a view of the face that went with the great pair of legs tanning on the lounger.

Before she could see, Shaw heard movement behind her and heard Sosa himself walking toward the dining room. Shaw moved down a hallway, out of sight. Sosa walked to his fiancee and stood next to the chair. Shaw watched as the fiancee slowly stood from the chair. Shaw's throat felt like it was closing up when she saw what Caroline looked like. Because Caroline looked devastatingly familiar. In fact, Shaw knew for sure who it was because of a scar from a gunshot wound she personally sewed up on the bikini-clad back.

She stood close to Sosa and put her hands on his chest, tilting her head up to kiss him. He put his hand on the small of her back as she dropped to her heels and smiled up at him.

Sosa kissed his fiancee again and then walked back toward the house. Shaw turned away, making her way down the hallway. She called Reese as she walked, quickly moving away from the scene that made her furious.

“Yeah?” Reese answered.

Shaw didn't waste time expelling her revelation, “Caroline is Root.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

“What the hell, Harold?” Shaw demanded after she and Reese had been sent back to the security house when their shift was over. She was standing by the small pool outside their house with Reese sitting in a chair by the door.

“Excuse me?” Harold asked.

“Root is here,” Shaw angrily snapped.

There was a long pause. Then Harold spoke, “Oh my.”

Reese butted in before Shaw could say anything else, “You didn't know?”

“I didn't,” Harold confessed.

Shaw rubbed her eyes, “So Root's been here the whole time? Playing mob house?”

“It seems so,” Harold took in all the information. He sat down at his computer and started typing. He paused, having to ask, “How is she?”

Shaw looked over at Reese. He shrugged. He wasn't actually the one that saw her. Shaw huffed, “She's more tan, which given her paleness in New York isn't saying much.” Shaw sighed heavily, “Can you please just find out why she's here? Ask the Machine or whatever it is you do.”

“I'll do my best,” Harold stated. He paused and added before Shaw could hang up, “Keep in mind that Root completely erased her identity prior to joining us. Samantha Groves, legally, no longer exists. All identifying numbers leading to Samantha Groves no longer exist. Perhaps this was the only way for the Machine to tell us that she is in trouble.”

Shaw put her hands on her hips and looked out into the woods across the pool. She tilted her head back, “So we have two numbers who may or may not be numbers.”

“It seems so.”

Shaw hung up and turned to Reese, “I say we tranq both of them and take them back to New York in suitcases.”

Reese smiled, “C'mon Shaw.” He stood up, “At least we know now that Root's okay. You can knock her out and put her in a suitcase when we're done here.”

The door slid open behind them and Leo stuck her head out, “In my panic thinking about the sheer amount of people that are going to be on these grounds in less than two hours, I may have forgotten to tell you that in order to not alarm any of the guards, Sosa has requested that all security guards dress formally and maintain a low profile.”

“I don't have anything to wear,” Shaw looked questioningly at Leo.

Leo nodded, “I took both of your measurements from video surveillance based on the size of other things around you. Outfits have been made. They're in your room. The stylist will be here once he's done with Antonio.” Leo disappeared inside, but popped her head back out, “Once you're ready, come to the conference room. Everyone will get their assignments there.”

Shaw saw her outfit first. She sighed deeply. She sucked it up and got dressed, then went through hair and make-up with a small team of exhausted looking people while Reese stepped out. She looked at herself in the lone mirror in hers and Reese's room. Her dress was shiny and gold and she wanted to cut it off with a butcher knife and throw it into the ocean. It did however, hug her body comfortably and allow her to conceal a handgun on her thigh.

Reese was in a tuxedo when they met in the conference room. Everyone was putting their radios on around the table. It was their first glance at all the other members of the security team at the same time. All the men were in tuxedos and the only other woman was in a soft pink dress that made Shaw thankful for the one she was wearing.

Shaw's hair was done in a loose ponytail that cascaded waves of silky hair over her right shoulder. She slipped her earpiece in under her hair. For the night, she was going to have to settle for only radio communication that could be heard by the whole security team. She and Reese were going to have to figure out a radio code of their own.

A male voice spoke around the corner and Leo cut him off, “I don't have time for that. Do it yourself.”

The stylist walked into the conference room looking grouchy. He had a box in his arms. He stopped at Reese, looked at his face and dug around in the body. He extracted a white mask that he handed to Reese, “Watch your hair.”

Shaw was next. He looked at her, extracted a mask, handed it to her, and moved on. Once everyone had a mask they left. Reese looked down at Shaw who was trying to tie the black silk ribbons of her mask behind her head. He took over tying and made sure the ribbons were straight.

Leo walked into the room with a tablet in her hands. The TV in the room flickered to life and showed the 3D model of the main house. “Virgil, you have Antonio duty. Imogene and Conrad, lower floor interior. Chino, upper level interior and balcony. Make sure no one goes near Antonio or Caroline's rooms. You remember how many people got fired when Caroline caught a few guests snooping around her room.”

Shaw and Reese shared a look. It was something to investigate.

“New kids,” Leo put the tablet down on the table, “Outside. Most of the guests will be in the pool area. Keep them there unless they are escorted by The Sosas.” Leo stopped talking and looked at the group around her, “Do I have to say 'ready break' for you to get your asses in gear?”

Everyone started moving for the door. They all rode up to the main house together and took their positions. Shaw watched the decorators hang lights in the trees closest to the back of the house. She leaned on the railing of the stairs that led to the guest house as they hung more lights over the pool.

Her eyes wandered up to the second balcony. She wondered what Root was hiding upstairs. She wondered if it was something from her previous life. She wondered why Antonio and Root didn't share a room if they were engaged. Her eyes caught a figure behind some white curtains in one of the upstairs rooms. She knew for sure it was Root. She watched Root look toward the interior of the house and then cross her arms. She could see Root's silhouette tilt her head. Even from so far away, she knew Root was listening to the Machine.

Reese walked from the pool house up and leaned back next to her. He followed Shaw's eyes. He acted against his better judgment and asked, “You okay?”

“I'm going to throttle her,” Shaw stated.

“Well as long as you're okay,” Reese looked around them, “I think we should take turns checking the path to the guest house throughout the night.”

“I'll go first,” Shaw pivoted on her heel and started walking down the stairs.

It was a long solo walk next to dim lights that were situated close to the ground, to light up the path and not much else. There was no one in the guest house and no one around the guest house. She walked all the way around the house. In the back of the house, she looked through the forest. She couldn't see the ocean, but she could feel the air getting thicker. Shaw walked back toward the main house as the guests started to arrive. When she started up the stairs, she heard an instrumental jazz band start playing. “Now I'm going to have to kill someone,” she muttered to herself.

Before she got to the top, she heard a familiar voice giving directions.

“Can someone please take a bottle of champagne to the security house?” Root asked, “Poor Leo always freaks out when there's more than a hundred people here.”

Shaw slowly walked up the stairs and saw Root walking away from her toward the pool. She was in a long flowing dress that was the color of Merlot, with a gold braided belt holding it around her waist, and fluttered around her feet when she walked. Her hair was done in the usual waves, but had grown out noticeably. Shaw wondered if Root knew she was there. Part of her was sure this was all some kind of plan for Root to get her and John around so that Root could force them all on a mission together.

“Virgil,” Root called from the pool and motioned him to her.

He stepped out of the house and put his hands behind his back, “Ma'am.”

“When Claudia gets here, please let me know,” Root asked politely.

He nodded, “Yes ma'am.”

Shaw made a mental note to watch Virgil and find out who Claudia was. Root moved into the house without even looking in Shaw's direction. A few guests started to trickle in before the entire backyard was covered in people dressed to the nines and wearing masks. Shaw was going to have a hard time keeping an eye on Root if she couldn't even see her.

She remembered what the staff had told her about Root being a madam. It wasn't something that really made sense to Shaw, but there was quite a lot of things that weren't making sense at the moment. The alternative, Root having many extracurricular girlfriends, was also not something Shaw could really see as a possibility. Especially because Root used to be so singular in her romantic pursuits.

Shaw circled the party, watching everyone with a scrutinizing eyes. She was pulled into a conversation a few times, but she politely carried on until she could bow out. She remembered what Leo said about them not wanting to stick out.

Shaw caught sight of Root near the pool. Sosa was standing next to her with a hand on her waist. Root was regaling a large group of people around her with stories that Shaw was sure weren't true. She stood near the edge of the party, knowing that neither one could see her.

She watched Sosa lean over and say something to Root. Root smiled and nodded, straightening his lapel. Sosa kissed her cheek before stepping away from the group. Shaw watched Sosa take a few men with him toward the stairs to the guest house. Shaw turned on her radio, “Riley, I think Mr. Sosa needs an escort.”

“On it,” Reese answered. Shaw saw him catch up with Sosa. Sosa patted Reese on the shoulder with a smile and allowed Reese to follow them down the stairs to the guest house.

Shaw made her way back around the crowd, keeping an eye on Root, but also watching out for Virgil and anyone could may be the Claudia Root was waiting for.

A stray party guest wandered to the pool house and let herself in. Shaw had a hunch that it was Claudia. Tall, tan, and scantily clad in a white cocktail dress. Shaw moved to the other end of the pool house and watched Virgil whisper something to Root. Root excused herself from the group, the party host smile dropping from her face as soon as had she turned away from them.

The transformation was astonishing to Shaw. Root went from radiant and entertaining to serious and deflated as she made her way toward the pool house. Shaw ducked around the corner so Root wouldn't see her. Shaw checked for cameras before prying open a window on the most secluded side of the house.

Shaw silently slipped into the bedroom of the pool house. She crept past the platform bed and walked to the door. She could hear Root and Claudia talking. She just couldn't quite make it out. Shaw slowly moved down the hallway toward the voices.

“He's forty-six,” Root explained, “A wife, a mistress, and two kids who attend boarding school in Vermont.”

“What's the mistress look like?” a British accented female voice asked back.

Shaw took another step forward and listened to Root explain, “Blonde surfer. Tan, nice abs. The mistress is using him to pay off her student loans. I don't think she's who we need to be looking at.”

There was a silence that was too long so Shaw reached for her gun. Before she could draw it completely, Claudia appeared at the mouth of the hallway with a gun pointed at Shaw.

“Don't do that,” Shaw warned her in a low voice.

Claudia clicked off the safety and kept the gun trained on Shaw. It was less than a second later that Shaw grabbed Claudia's wrist and spun around, her back to Claudia's front. When the gun pointed away from her a scuffle ensued.

Root walked to the couch in the living room of the pool house and picked up a taser from between the cushions when she heard the struggle. She started to make her way to the hallway when the banging stopped. She waited for a moment and saw Claudia walking out of the hallway with her hands up.

Shaw appeared behind her pointing Claudia's gun at Claudia. Root's hand began to visibly shake when she saw Shaw. She put the taser down and hid her hand behind her back, “What – what are you doing here?”

Shaw poked Claudia in the back and pushed her past the small kitchen toward the living room where Root was standing. Shaw saw an open folder on the kitchen island. “I'm protecting my boss, Mrs. Sosa.”

Root sighed heavily, “Put the gun down, Sameen.”

Shaw put the safety on the gun, but kept it in her hand. She looked at the file, “Is this a number?” She got a little information out of it before it was slapped shut in front of her.

Root picked up the folder that she had just closed and held it close to her chest. She held her hand out to Shaw. Shaw stared at her face for a moment before handing over the gun. Root walked back to Claudia and handed over the folder and the gun, “Go get started. I'll call you later.”

Claudia looked from Root to Shaw, tucking the gun into a thigh holster while holding Shaw's eyes. She turned to her boss, “Are you going to be okay?”

“I'll be fine,” Root assured Claudia. She walked Claudia to the door of the pool house. She opened it, let Claudia walk out, and closed the door after her. She looked out the window at the party and sighed, “I guess John is here too.”

“He's guarding your husband's private party in the guest house,” Shaw stood still, looking at Root.

Root bit her lip. She turned her body completely toward Shaw and looked her over, “I'm glad you're okay. I was-”

“No,” Shaw stated, “You don't get to tell me that after you abandoned us.”

Root looked down at the ground. She swallowed and drug her eyes up to Shaw, “I know. I'm sorry.”

The defeated look that was written all over Root made Shaw bite back a sharp retort. Shaw leaned on the island in the kitchen, “So you're a madam now?”

Root rolled her eyes, a slight amusement springing onto her face, “Is that what the staff thinks now?”

“Some of them think you have more girlfriends that Antonio,” Shaw added. The sentence was bait to gauge Root's reaction. She wanted to know if Root knew about Antonio's infidelity.

Root tilted her head, knowing exactly that Shaw was getting at, “The Machine appraises me of Antonio's activities.”

“So you started your own team out here?” Shaw asked looking Root dead in the eyes, “Root's sexy assassins?”

“I needed to be here,” Root answered. “There's a war brewing and it is going to get bloody very quickly.” Root walked to the kitchen and made her way around the opposite side of the island from Shaw. She opened the cabinet, got down two tumblers, and a bottle of really expensive bourbon. She poured them both a glass and slid one to Shaw.

Shaw picked it up. “Were you ever going to come back?”

Root drained the glass and poured herself another drink. “I don't know.” She took a breath and finally managed to look at Shaw, “How did you get here?”

“We got Antonio's number,” Shaw answered. She took a sip of her drink and looked out toward the party. “Harold thinks that it might just be because you technically don't have a number anymore.”

Root looked up and nodded, “That makes sense.”

“Why wouldn't the Machine just tell you?” Shaw asked, gesturing in the general direction of Root's face.

“When has it ever helped to tell the number that they're in trouble?” Root taking a long sip of her drink. She shook her head, “There are any number of hits on Antonio and my psychotic band of hot operatives could turn on me at any minute if someone offers to pay them more than I am.” Root leaned on the island, “It should be fun figuring out who it is.”

Root finished off her drink and put the glass down, “I need to get back to the party.” She walked to the door and paused before she opened it. She didn't look at Shaw when she quietly uttered, “I _am_ glad you're okay.” She looked over her shoulder, “If you need anything let me know.”

Shaw stayed in the pool house for a moment. She watched Root walked back to the party and put a smile on her face, playing the part of the perfect hostess again. She finished her drink before making her way back out the window she crawled in through.

Shaw kept an eye on Root for the rest of the party. She knew that there was something wrong with Root. The light in her eyes was gone. Even when she could tell the Machine was talking to her, the bright sense of purpose she used to have had faded. There was something hollow about Root and it was disturbing to Shaw.

She met with Reese when Antonio was done in the guest house. They stood at the stairs to the guest house path, making sure that none of the intoxicated patrons fell down the stone steps. “Root's taking care of numbers. The girls that work for her are operatives.”

Reese frowned. He looked over the party-goers, “She have any idea who is after her and Antonio.”

“She said it could be anyone,” Shaw shrugged. “We're gonna have to talk to Harold.”

Reese agreed. He paused, thinking about the situation they were in. Then she asked, “Is she okay?”

Shaw clenched her jaw. Her eyes sought out Root and found her laughing with a group of people with a drink in her hand. “I don't think so. We need to talk when we're off shift.”

“Okay,” Reese nodded. “Do you want to sweep the guest house?”

“Yeah,” Shaw turned around and walked down the stairs.

As the night crept on, some of the guests started to leave while others found chairs to pass out in. A fire was started in a movable fire pit next to the pool and pool furniture was brought out onto the lawn. Antonio sat at the foot of Root's lounger and played his guitar with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. His fingers moved deftly over the frets. He hummed along as he played soft jazzy rifts.

Root watched him with a soft smile on her lips. She titled her head to the side so that she could see him better, the fire glowing behind him. He looked at her while he was playing and smiled back, a slow stream of smoke coming out the side of the mouth.

Reese looked from the owners of the house to Shaw who was stewing from her seat at the dining room table of the house. She looked up when a kitchen worker asked her a question. She nodded and accepted a cup of coffee.

Root picked up a bottle of bourbon that was on the ground next to her chair and took a drink from it. She laid back into her chair and closed her eyes behind her mask. The warm night was all around her. People who had become as close to friends as she ever had outside of New York were all around her. Bourbon was swimming in her bloodstream like a dense fog.

She lulled her head up and licked her lips. She touched the braid on the side of her head that was holding her hair back. She knew exactly where Shaw was. She knew exactly where Reese was. If she wanted, she could know where Harold was. Those were her people. The ones that were currently around her were…they were just bodies with sloppy smiles.

But she had found a comfort in the insulation she got from the real world in the vapid faces and hollow eyes. She never had much to worry about. She sent her sexy, deadly operatives out after numbers. She spend her days in luxury. It was a far cry from working out of an abandoned subway.

Root rolled off of the chair and landed a little unsteadily on her feet. Antonio started to get up, but she put her hand on his shoulder keeping him there. He didn't say anything. He just nodded and continued playing for his friends.

Root walked along the patio of the house, past the open doors to the dining room where Shaw was sitting. Root moved toward the side of the house and ducked around the corner.

Shaw had watched Root walk off and wondered where she went. She stood up, put her coffee down, and rose from the table. She followed the patio to the walkway that went around the house. As soon as she stepped around the corner, two hands on her hips spun her around. Her back hit the side of the house and Root's lips crashed against hers.

Her hands betrayed her brain when they came to rest on the sides of Root's neck, instead of wrapped around her neck to stop her.

Root pulled back, breaking the kiss with a parting peck. She adjusted Shaw's mask and then smiled at her, “I'm _really_ glad you're okay.”

“You would have known if you would have stayed,” Shaw grabbed a fistful of Root's dress to keep her from walking away.

Root looked down at Shaw. She put her hands on Shaw's face and retracted them, knowing that that wasn't something Shaw would be receptive to. She smiled, a hint of bourbon in her grin. “I couldn't stay because of you.” Shaw was starting to be able to see the old Root peeking out. The looseness of her smile and the light in her eyes was starting to shine. She kissed Shaw again, this time gently and sweetly, before walking away.

“That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard,” Shaw called after Root, but didn't make a move to stop or follow her.

Root smiled and walked away. For a moment things felt like they used to and she loved that feeling.

Shaw and Reese were called back to the security house to take some time off by an exhausted sounding and on-edge Leo. She couldn't wait to get out of her dress and as soon as she ate something, they both went to sleep.

Shaw woke up first and decided to have a shower before they went back on shift. By the time she was done, Reese was up and getting ready as well. They were both dressed and waiting in the living room when Leo came to tell them their job for the night. She explained to them that general patrol was the plan and gave them vague instructions on how to carry it out.

Once at the main house, Shaw went to the back with Reese following. Shaw looked at the pool and past it at the view of the ocean. She checked through the windows of the pool house and then paused with Reese at the stairs leading to the guest house. They both looked up at the house, looking for anything out of place. They could see Root standing in one of the windows. Antonio walked up to her and kissed her neck. She smiled and turned her head away.

“Poor sap,” Shaw tried to put as much conviction into her words as she could, “I wonder how Root convinced him that she loves him.”

“She tricked me into thinking she was a shrink,” Reese offered, “You thought she was CIA. She does things like that all the time.”

“It's a wonder she still knows who she is.” Shaw looked away when Antonio kissed Root's lips. In her haste to look away, movement caught her eye near the pool house.

Reese saw it as well and they moved together toward the mysterious shadow. Shaw pulled out her gun and opened the door. She walked in first, stepping around the couch and toward the kitchen. Reese closed the door behind them, moving toward Shaw.

“Hands up,” Shaw said calmly when a woman walked out of the bedroom in the pool house.

The unfamiliar woman put her hands up and looked behind herself. Claudia stepped out of the bedroom, not putting her hands up. She walked past the woman, toward the kitchen and sat on the counter, “You can put your gun down. That's Hiro. We both work for Caroline.”

Hiro put her hands down and flipped her dark hair out of her face. “The security guards are usually useless. What's with these two?”

“We're new,” Reese put his gun away, “I'm sure we'll be useless soon.”

“Do you know why Caroline sends you after those people?” Shaw asked, tucking her gun away as well.

Hiro shook her head, “We don't care either. We do our job. We get paid.”

“Speaking of being paid,” Root's voice announced her arrival. She had slipped in the front door and was carrying an envelope. She walked past Shaw and Reese to place it on the counter along with another folder. “Try not to bang this one up so much.”

Claudia took the envelope and the folder. “I get paid to save them, not baby sit.”

“I like her,” Shaw looked over her shoulder at Root as Claudia and Hiro walked out.

Root smiled back, “I thought you might.” Root turned to Reese, “Nice to see you again John.”

“Root,” he nodded in a greeting, “Where did you get those two?”

“Oh you know homicidal models anonymous,” Root walked to the kitchen and got down three glasses.

Shaw knew what Root was doing and said, “We're on duty.”

Root smiled, “That's too bad. I was hoping that you'd come with me to save a number.”

“A real number?” Shaw asked. As much as she was having fun in the sun, she missed doing things. Like actual real hand to hand combat, shooting her way out of an abandoned building things.

Root knew she would get Shaw's attention with that. She got down the bourbon and poured three of them. She slid one to Reese and one to Shaw, “I just hope you don't get sea sick.”


	3. Chapter 3

“This yacht is bigger than my last three apartments put together,” Shaw commented as she walked around the front deck. She looked around them and couldn't see anything but ocean. In all honesty, she didn't like the ocean very much. She never felt like she could have enough control over things there.

The mid-morning sun laid over them as Root walked out onto the deck in a strapless sundress with a glass of champagne in her hand, “I've never seen you in shorts, Sameen.” She sat down in a lounge chair and laid back, “You should wear them more often.”

Shaw rolled her eyes and looked at Root from behind her sunglasses, “Is this what you do all day? You send your Angels out to save the numbers and you drink and tan?”

Root didn't answer Shaw's question with words. She just winked at her and shrugged. She had missed Shaw huffs and puffs in response to her over the top flirting.

Reese walked out onto the deck and looked around, “According to the radar, there's no one close right now.”

“Hey,” Shaw walked up to Root and looked down at her. She pointed to Reese, “You said these shorts were part of the boat uniform or whatever.”

Root grinned wickedly. Reese looked down at his pants and tried to suppress a grin as well.

Root finally gave in, “There are pants for you in the bedroom.”

Shaw stomped off. Into the interior of the yacht. The bedroom was easy to find. It was massive yet still cozy with floor to ceiling views of the ocean on each side. Shaw saw a duffel bag on the bed and went to it, snatching the zipper open.

She heard the door close behind her and Shaw dug through the bag, “Let me guess, you want to help me undress.”

“Your low expectations of the wit of my come-ons is borderline offensive,” Root leaned back on the door with a grin. “I came to give you this.”

Shaw turned around and saw that Root was holding a rocket launder. Root set it down on the ground, “Now I can make an innuendo about giving you a big rocket if you want.”

“I'm good,” Shaw walked over to the rocket launcher. She looked it over, “What's this for?”

“We're going to have visitors soon,” Root handed the rocket launcher over.

Shaw put the launcher on her shoulder, “I guess asking where a drug lord's wife got a Polish rocket launcher would be stupid.”

“Fiancee,” Root corrected Shaw. She stepped away from the door, “Just be at the front of the boat in three minutes. Aim for the star.”

Shaw set the rocket launcher on the bed as Root slipped out the door. She changed into pants then quickly made her way to the top deck of the ship. Reese was holding an automatic rifle near the front of the boat. “Where's Root?”

“I thought she'd be up here,” Shaw adjusted the launder on her shoulder and looked through the sight out over the horizon. She spotted a small boat roaring toward them, “Incoming.” Shaw scanned the boat through the computerized scope. She pressed a button and locked in on the boat. “Aim for the star.” Shaw found a green star on the hull of the boat and waited for the sight to lock on. Then she pulled the trigger. The rocket soared away from her and hit the approaching boat right under the front deck. All the heavily armed people on the deck fell as the boat started to capsize.

The small roar of a jet ski engine revved up. Shaw looked over the edge of the boat and saw Root on a neon green jet ski, flying toward the sinking ship. Her hair was flying behind her and her sunglasses reflecting the light from the sun and from the fire that broke out on the enemy ship. Reese started firing at the people on the other ship that started taking aim at Root.

Shaw took out her handgun and fired a few shots, kneecapping a few of the people before they could fire at her bikini clad teammate. Root disappeared on the other side of the ship. The yacht they were on started turning away from the wreckage. Shaw looked at Reese, “What's going on?”

Reese handed Shaw the gun and started running to the control room. Shaw looked through the rifle finding that most of the combatants were in piling into a single life raft. Most of them injured and not taking their weapons with them.

As the yacht turned away from the wreck, it started to pick up speed. Shaw tapped her ear, “John, what's going on?”

“The controls won't go manually,” Reese answered, “It's on some kind of automatic override.”

“There's a button on the left side of panel that's labeled external dock,” Root's voice jumped into both of their ears. “Can you press that please?”

Shaw saw Root on the jet ski, swing around from behind the sinking boat. She saw four large, plastic wrapped bricks of cocaine on the runners of the jet ski. Shaw walked toward the back of the boat as Root neared the yacht. She watched Root drive the jet ski onto a lift that had opened on the back of the boat. Root threw the cocaine up onto the back deck and dismounted the jet ski. Reese joined them on the back of the boat as Root closed the lift, hiding the jet ski away.

Root turned the bricks over and looked at the markings on the front. When she found the one she was looking for, she picked it up and moved to the glass table on the back of the boat.

“Is the Machine driving the boat?” Reese asked, just so that he knew that there was someone driving it.

Root grinned, “Of course not. I am.” She opened her hand to Reese, “Knife?”

He reached into his pocket, grabbed his knife, and handed it to her.

Root used the knife to cut through the plastic around the cocaine. Then she used the knife to move the cocaine around until she hit something hard. A smile spread across her face, “There it is.” She reached into the white powder and pulled out a laptop, wrapped up in plastic as well. After peeling the plastic off of it, She walked into the interior of the yacht and sat down on the couch. Her hand dove in between the cushions of the couch and extracted the end of a laptop charger.

“What's that for?” Shaw asked from the door leading to the back deck.

Root typed around and found a heavily encrypted hard drive. “I won't know until I get it back to the house.” She closed the laptop and put it down. “The boat is on it's way back to the house. Feel free to eat or drink anything you find. I'm going to go change clothes.”

Root walked deeper into the boat, into the master bedroom. She moved to the small closet next to the bed and started looking through her sundresses for one that she'd want to wear.

She heard the polished wooden floor creak behind her. She slowly turned around and saw Shaw standing in the doorway. Root smiled immediately upon seeing her. It was a reflex. She had missed the scowl on Shaw's face more than anything she could describe. “Hey Sam.”

Shaw leaned on the doorway, “How long until we get back?”

Root smiled wickedly and motioned Shaw inside the room, “Enough time.” Shaw stepped in the room and to the side of the door, hovering near the wall.

Shaw narrowed her eyes as Root moved toward her. She could see a predatory shadow in Root's eyes. She swallowed and breathed out slowly, knowing exactly what Root thought that had enough time for.

Root didn't touch Shaw when she got close enough. At least not her skin. She held Shaw's eyes while she unbuckled Shaw's belt and then her pants. When they pooled around Shaw's ankles, Root knelt down in front of Shaw, glancing up one last time to make sure that what she was about to do was going to be okay with Shaw.

When Shaw's hands threaded themselves in her hair, Root grinned. She tugged down Shaw's underwear and buried her face between Shaw's legs.

Shaw's head lulled back against the wall, her mouth falling open. Her fists clenched, holing Root's hair tightly, urging her closer. Root's hand slid down Shaw's calf and to one of her feet, pushing her pants free. Then she hooked Shaw's leg over her shoulder, giving herself full access to everything she had craved for such a long time.

Root took her time, using her tongue and fingers to draw Shaw into an orgasm the left her legs quivering. Root slipped Shaw's foot back into her underwear and pants while Shaw was still trying to recover completely. Her pants were up and her belt was buckled by the time the haze had cleared from her eyes.

Root reached up to touch Shaw's face, but settled for just pushing the hair out of her eyes. She dropped her hand, grabbed the dress she dropped on the bed, and walked out of the bedroom without another word.

Shaw blinked once and then ran her hands over her eyes. She slowly made her way out of the bedroom, finding Root and Reese were standing on the bow of the boat as the yacht stopped in shallow water. Reese helped Root climb over the railing of the boat. Shaw moved to his side to see they were descending a rope ladder into a much smaller boat that could take them right up to the shore.

Reese went next and Shaw followed into the small boat piloted by Virgil and Imogene. Root sat near the front of the small boat, her sunglasses hiding her eyes, already on the phone. She smiled brightly and leaned back on the U shaped vinyl seat. She spoke in French, knowing that no one else on the small boat could understand her completely.

Imogene climbed up onto the yacht. She turned the yacht around and sailed it out to sea, taking it back to the marina. Virgil took the steering wheel of the smaller boat. They slowly pulled up to the shore by the tunnel. Reese and Shaw jumped out onto the sand first. Then they both held their hands up for Root. She took both of them and dropped onto the sand. “So chivalrous,” she grinned and walked past them toward the tunnel with the laptop under her arm.

Reese and Shaw pushed Virgil out into the water so he could take that boat out into the marina as well. Then they followed Root down the tunnel.

“I'm going to make sure you two have the day off tomorrow,” Root said as she started making her way up the spiral stairs that led up to the interior of the house, “I need you to go meet Hiro at the restaurant for me. She's going to have some information we need.”

“Antonio's restaurant?” Reese asked.

Root nodded, “It's ocean front so you can take whatever boat you want.” She glanced sideways at Shaw, “We have a speedboat I think you might like.”

Shaw didn't answer and Root didn't wait for her to. “She'll be there at one. I'm sure you both remember what she looks like.”

When they came out of the door into the second floor of the house, Root turned around. She gestured between them, “I missed this.” She smiled a smile from her former life – the one that she lived in New York with the team. “Now if you'll excuse me, I have a hard drive to crack.”

“What? No one is allowed in your room?” Shaw asked.

Root glanced up at a camera in the hallway, “Not as long as you're still security guards.”

Shaw got what she was saying and nodded.

“But there's a book you might want to check out in the downstairs hallway,” Root looked between the two, “The Twelfth Night.” She turned to her bedroom door, opened it, and slipped inside, letting it close behind her.

Shaw and Reese made their way down the stairs and into the hallway. It was the blind hallway in the midst of the staff bedrooms. The bookcases were built into the walls and filled to the brim with books. Shaw took one side and Reese took the other.

“Found it,” Reese pulled out an annotated version of The Twelfth Night. He opened it to find a small black plastic box about the size of a car fob. There was one button on it.

Shaw took it out of Reese's hand, “It's a camera feed scrambler.” She looked it over.

“How do you know?” Reese asked.

Shaw put it in her pocket, “We hang out with two of the biggest nerds on the planet and you don't know what this is?”

Reese replaced the book, “So it works on nearby cameras?”

Shaw nodded and started walking away from the bookcase. “We can't use it very often. I'm sure Leo is staring at the monitors right now. I'm not sure she sleeps.”

Reese and Shaw had no choice but to go about their normal patrol until they got further instructions. Reese called Harold on the way to check the guest house. He found a mistress rooting around in the dresser, called her a cab, and escorted her off the premises.

Leo called them in around lunchtime and gave them some free time. They ate lunch and went to sleep, having been awake for quite some time. 


	4. Chapter 4

Shaw got into the driver's seat of the car on the way to meet Hiro. She started the engine and pulled out of their spot, sliding onto the long driveway. Just as she was about halfway out of the estate, a motorcycle came roaring up next to her. She knew who it was, having seen Root in black leather and a black helmet riding a motorcycle before.

Shaw stopped and Root did as well. Root pulled an envelope out of her jacket, “I forgot to give you this.”

Shaw accepted the envelope without looking in it. “Where are you going?”

“I have a helicopter to catch,” Root put her hands back on the handle bar.

“Whoa, wait,” Shaw caught her arm, “Who is going with you?”

Root grinned behind her face mask, “Chino and Conrad. They're already at the helipad waiting. Don't worry. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself.” Root didn't wait for a response. She gunned the engine, speeding off toward the main road.

When Shaw got to the main road, there was no sigh of Root. So she followed the GPS to an upscale restaurant in town. They valet parked and when they walked in, Reese spotted Hiro at the bar.

Hiro was drinking something with orange juice in it when Shaw and Reese sat on either side of her. She smiled, “You must be here with my money.”

“You must be here with our information,” Reese leaned on the bar.

Hiro put her hands around the glass she was drinking from. “Look I like Caroline and all, even though she tased me that one time. Let's be real, that was like foreplay for me, but….” She gestured vaguely into the air. “Business is business.”

Shaw looked behind herself. She unhooked the radio from her belt and took the battery out of it, leaving it on the bar. Shaw nodded to Reese to do the same. He followed her lead and then Shaw asked, “You got a contract on her?” Shaw gestured the bartender for another drink. When Hiro didn't answer immediately, Shaw huffed, “Look I can help you or you can go through me.”

Hiro looked at Shaw, “Claudia does.” A light lit up in Hiro's eyes and she smiled, “How about we team up and get Caroline before Claudia does? We'd have to get her off of the estate, but that shouldn't be hard.” She looked at Reese, “What about you, handsome? You in?”

Reese scratched the scruff on his cheek, “How much?”

Hiro did some quick math in her head and tucked some of her sleek hair behind her ear, “How does five million each sound?”

Shaw inhaled, “So you're being paid around thirty million to knock off your boss?”

Hiro turned completely toward Shaw, “I can't believe Caroline hasn't asked you to join our little team yet. You're smart and you're hot.” Hiro reached forward and touched Shaw's hair, “And I can tell by looking at you that you can handle yourself.”

Shaw grabbed Hiro's hand and slammed it down on the bar, “Don't touch me.”

Hiro grinned, “Alright.” She put her hands up. She looked at Reese, “She always this rough?”

Reese shrugged, “Pretty much.”

Hiro took the drink that the bartender gave her. She turned to Reese and put her hand on his knee. “I'll get some more details about this contract and then I'll call you okay?” She slide the drink to Reese with a smile. Then she slid off of her stool.

“Hold it,” Shaw grabbed her arm, “You're not going anywhere. Especially not after you tried to poison my partner.” Shaw pushed the drink away from Reese. She took Hiro's wrist, looking over her hand. She looked at Hiro's ring and flipped open a secret compartment that contained a tiny amount of white powder. “Old school.”

“Some things never go out of style,” Hiro yanked her hand back and threw a punch at Shaw. After a short scuffle, Hiro was handcuffed to the beer tap, unconscious.

“We gotta get Root out of here,” Shaw tossed Reese the keys to the car as the valet stopped it in front of them, “I don't care what kind of long game she's playing.”

They sped all the way back to the estate, but found out from Leo that Root wasn't there. When they told Leo about the offer that they had received, she called Chino and found out where they were. Then she sent Reese and Shaw to the main house to sweep for anything that could have been left or anyone hiding out.

Shaw ended up taking the second floor, starting her search in Root's bedroom. So far the search of the bedroom didn't wield anything, but a laptop that had been laying on the bed that wasn't even password protected. Shaw knew Root well enough to know it was a decoy.

She went through the walk in closet full of clothes and started feeling around the walls for a secret panel.

“A girl's gone for an hour and there's someone going through her stuff,” Root's voice drifted into the room.

Shaw turned around, “Where's your stuff? Your – your Root stuff.”

Root smiled, walking past Shaw into the closet. She moved to the evening gowns and reached behind them, pulling out a false wall. Behind it was a thin shelf, maybe two inches wide where three laptops, two handguns, and a router were hidden. Once Shaw saw it, Root replaced the wall, “I sent a forensic image of the encrypted hard drive to Harold. He's working on what's in it while I have been engaged in other pursuits.”

“We talked to your friend Hiro,” Shaw put her hands in her pockets and walked around the closet the size of the bedroom. “There's a hit on you. Claudia is going to carry it out and Hiro was going to help, but she wanted to cut Claudia out and asked me and John to help for a quarter of what Claudia was going to get.”

“I knew when I hired them that money and the thrill of the kill were their only motivating factors,” Root moved a few shirts around, “Did you find out who hired them?”

“No,” Shaw started poking through the jewelry spilling out of the box on the jewelry table. “Hiro didn't know. We'll have to ask Claudia when she decides to show up.”

“She's not due for another day or so, but if there's a hit, she could be early,” the hacker pursed her lips, “The faster this is over, the faster everyone can go home.”

Shaw turned to look at Root who was busying herself with looking around her closet for something. She leaned back on a bank of drawers, “Where's your home, Root?”

Root stopped moving completely. She didn't say anything. She just walked toward the other side of the closet and pulled open a drawer. Instead of weapons or computer stuff, Shaw saw Root digging through pants. Shaw asked, “What are you doing?”

“If we're going to have to flee, I'm going to need pants,” Root tossed the pants onto a chair in the middle of the room and shucked off her dress. Shaw's eyes raked over her body, and it was almost as if Root could physically feel it. She quickly reached for a tank top, but found that when she turned back around, Shaw was a breath away from her.

“What about fleeing?” Root swallowed a large lump in her throat.

“If we needed to flee, we'd already be gone,” Shaw held Root's eyes.

Root clenched her jaw. She looked away from Shaw. When she looked back, Shaw ran her teeth over her lower lip. She could see what it was doing to Root. She could see the slight quiver of the muscles in Root's abdomen. She could see the pulse punch a little harder in Root's neck. She could feel all those things looking at Root standing in front of her in lilac colored lingerie.

One touch was all it took – Shaw's hand pressing firmly into the skin just below Root's ribs. Their lips crashed together, Shaw taking the role of aggressor, pushing Root back they were out of the closet and Root fell back onto the bed.

Root pulled Shaw's shirt over her head, devastated by the break in the kiss it caused. But Shaw moved back down, kissed Root hard into the bed. She started to reached for the buckled on Shaw's pants, but Shaw caught her hands. She pushed Root's hands up the bed, pinning them next to her head. Root smiled against Shaw's mouth, loving the control that Shaw was taking.

“Keep your hands there,” Shaw growled, “Or I stop.” She looked into Root's eyes with a stone serious that wiped the smile right off of Root's face. “Understand?”

Root nodded, not able to form words. She was sure that she'd never been more aroused in her life. Shaw's hands felt like fire slowly laying a trail from her hips to the back of her bra. Shaw unhooked it like she'd done it a million times before. She slowly slid the bra up Root's arms and stopped around Root's wrists, using it to tie them together. She could feel Root writhing under her, fighting to control her instincts. Root was normally so in control of herself, aware of everything and everyone around her, but all she could see was Shaw and all she could feel was Shaw. Her bra had come loose and she was completely in charge of keeping her hands in check, making the muscles in her arms flex with tension.

Shaw had her fingers buried inside of Root and her lips on Root's neck when the woman under her unraveled completely. Root clenched her fists, barely able to keep her hands where they were supposed to stay. Her eyes moved to Shaw who she could tell was turned on as well.

Root swiftly moved her hands to Shaw's belt, unbuckling, and unzipping it before Shaw could pull her fingers out. Shaw gasped against Root's neck as Root's fingers slid inside of her. She rocked back on them, needing to feel her own release. Root felt Shaw panting on her neck. Shaw's orgasm started around Root's fingers and spread through her body like a tremor. Her face was against the bed next to Root's when she had ridden it out as far as it could go.

She swallowed when Root extracted her fingers. Root placed a gentle and unexpected kiss on Shaw's shoulder before Shaw rolled off of her, laying on her back. Root's eyes spun around the ceiling slowly taking in the accents and the molding design. She never noticed it before, but it looked kind of like a flower.

A second later, Root cleared her throat, “I can hear you.” She sat up, moving stark naked to her closet. Shaw pushed up on her elbows and watched the small part of the closet she could see through the door. Root was quickly getting dressed and extracting the guns from behind the false wall.

Shaw buttoned and zipped her pants while she was laying. Then she stood up, grabbing her boots off of the ground next to the bed, tugging them on. “Where are we going?”

“Tijuana,” Root answered, “But you're not-” She stopped talking like someone interrupted her, although there was silence between the women. She paused for a moment, Shaw being able to see her movements still before Root resumed movement and speech, “Do you have a passport?”

“Canadian, American, and Russian,” Shaw answered.

Root disappeared completely from Shaw's view when she said, “Radio Leo and tell her that we need the jet ready.”

A knock on the door was quick and crisp. Shaw quickly looked down at herself to make sure that no one could tell she had just had sex before moving to the door. She took out her gun and opened the door a crack.

Antonio stood at the door in two of the three pieces of a suit. His jacket was absent and his sleeves were rolled up his forearms. Shaw opened the door and tucked her gun away.

Antonio smiled as he walked past Shaw, “Thank you for warning us about the threat against Caroline.”

Shaw just nodded, watching Antonio walk straight into Root's closet. Shaw saw Reese standing guard outside of the door. She wondered how much of what went on in the room that he knew about. Shaw turned on her radio, “Leo, Caroline wants the jet ready.”

“That woman is a security nightmare,” Leo mumbled back, “The car will be ready to take her in five minutes. You and Riley stay with her. Virgil is coming too.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Shaw answered. Reese looked back at Shaw and they shared a nod. Shaw stepped back into the room and heard Root talking with Antonio.

“Tijuana?” Antonio asked.

“I have some business to take care of,” Root answered patiently. “I'll only be gone for the day.”

Shaw heard Antonio sigh. “I know your business is important to you -”

“There are threats against me all the time,” Root assured him, “You don't have to worry about me.”

“But I do, mi amor,” He was quiet for a moment, “I'll come with you then. Just to see for my own eyes.”

Root exhaled audibly, “Okay. But you have to behave.”

Antonio chuckled, “Don't I always?”

“You never do,” Root answered back, a smile evident in her voice.

Shaw peeked into the closet and saw Antonio dip his head down to kiss Root. Root's hands moved up his chest to his shoulders. Shaw moved away from the closet, not wanting to know what was going on. She walked out the door of the bedroom, past John, “Keep an eye on her. I'm going to get a sandwich for the flight. I'll meet you at the car.”

The car ride was quiet. Root sat near the door and looked out the window. Antonio sat close to her, his arm around her. Shaw sat up front with the driver, leaving Reese to awkwardly sit across from Root and Antonio.

On the jet, Shaw sat at the back of the jet, eating her sandwich. Antonio was on the phone pacing near the front of the plane. Root had found a laptop on board and was absorbed in the screen, completely oblivious to everyone around her. Reese sat on the couch, watching everyone else.

Finally, Reese asked, “What's on the sandwich?”

“Prosciutto, mozzarella, spinach, tomatoes,” Shaw took another bite, “Pesto aioli.”

“I think he chef is sweet on you, Shaw,” Reese took a sandwich out of his breast pocket, “I got a peanut butter and jelly.”

Root heard the exchange and felt the jealousy pull at her stomach although it it was irrational. She knew for a fact that Shaw had only slept with one person in Santa Monica.

“It must be my charm,” Shaw looked out the window with her mouthful.

Antonio hung up on his phone and sat down on the couch next to Root. He put his arm on the back of the couch, looking at the screen, “Someday you're going to have to explain to me how you do all those things.”

Root looked up from the terminal window with a smile, “I tried that one time, remember?”

“Ah yes,” Antonio looked up at the ceiling. He took a deep breath, his chin leveling, “I deleted a directory.”

“Not permanently,” Root grinned. She turned back to her computer. Antonio looked at his phone for a few minutes, tapping around until it rang. He stood up and moved to the front of the plane again. 

Shaw and Reese's phones vibrated in their pockets at the same time. They both took out their phones and found a message.  It was an address with a name, occupation, and photo. Shaw and Reese looked at each other. 

“No The Machine did not send you a small dossier on the number,” Root whispered to her computer screen loud enough for Shaw and Reese to hear it.

They both looked down at their phones, pretending that their momentary lapse in judgment didn't happen – like The Machine would give them all the information for once instead of just a number.

“Hey, babe,” Root looked up at Antonio. He paused his conversation on the phone to look at Root, “Can you make us a reservation at Mercado Paseante?”

Antonio nodded with a smile, “Of course.” He told the person he had been talking to that he had to go and then got on the phone to make a reservation. Just as he hung up, the pilot told them that the plane was landing. Everyone sat down and buckled their seat belts. 

The landing was easy. Root closed her laptop when they stopped in a hangar, clicking her seat belt open with one hand. She stood, picking up her computer and walked to the front of the plane.

“You didn't bring a bag?” Antonio asked Root. 

Root tucked her laptop away into the storage closet, “We won't be here long.”

The car that was waiting for them drove them straight to the restaurant. Antonio excused himself to the bathroom and it felt like the three people let collectively stopped holding their breath. Root turned her to colleagues, “Our guy is a former assassin for a cartel across the country. They're in town to find it.” Root scanned the restaurant. “They're already here.”

“Where?” Shaw reached for her gun, keeping it in her pocket.

“We need to get everyone out of here,” Reese spotted a few people with cartel tattoos sticking out of their formal clothing.

Root's eyes rose to the ceiling, “I'll pull the fire alarm. You get the number out of here.” She started walking away before they agreed.

Shaw and Reese split up, taking different sides of the restaurant. Reese found him walking past with a tray of drinks. Reese stopped him, radioing Shaw and Root, “I got him.”

A second later the fire alarm went off, screaming at everyone in the building to get out and spraying them with water. Reese grabbed the number by the sleeve and pulled him away. Knowing that he was going grabbed in assassin, he put a gun to his back before the assassin could start a fist fight. “I'm here to help you. Come with me.”

Shaw was shielding her face from the rain and joining a small stream of people trickling out the back door. Before she could get out, she heard Antonio call, “Caroline!” back toward the interior of the restaurant. She rolled her eyes and walked back in to the rainfall.

“Mr. Sosa,” she grabbed his arm to stop him from going into the restaurant, “Come with me.”

“Where is Caroline?” he asked her.

“She's already out of the restaurant,” Shaw pushed him in front of her, walking behind him. As they were walking, his wet trousers clung to him and she admired the view that she could appreciate Root appreciating.

He stepped into the alley and started to turn around before he was grabbed. A gun was pointed at his head and Shaw had a gun trained on the assailant. She frowned, “Virgil?”

Virgil held onto Antonio tightly, “Where is Caroline?”

“Shaw?” Reese asked in Shaw's ear, “Where are you?”

“Things just went pear shaped,” Shaw muttered. She licked her lips and addressed Virgil, “I don't know. We lost her in the crowd. Let him go. I'll take you to her.” She paused with her gun on him, “You're working with Claudia aren't you?”

Virgil smirked, “Just as surely as you knew Caroline before coming to work with us.”

“Yeah. I knew her,” Shaw offered, knowing that denying it wouldn't get her anywhere.

Gunshots sounded on the other side of the building. Then two rang out in the alley. Virgil fell to the ground with a bullet wound in his shoulder and left knee. Antonio turned around, finding Root standing there with a handgun in each hand. “C'mon Sameen. John's in trouble.”

“What is going on?” Antonio asked, following Root and Shaw toward the corner of the building.

Root shot around the corner a few times, before advancing, “It turns out, I may have fudged the truth a little bit.”

“About what?” Antonio cautiously followed the two women to the street in front of the restaurant.

Root and Shaw both popped out from around the corner and took out a few people who were shooting at Reese and their number. Root grabbed some keys out of the pocket of an innocent bystander running past them and tossed them to Reese. “Get him out of here.”

Shaw grabbed Root by the collar, spotting a sniper up on top of the building across the street. She threw her against a nearby car, then shoved Antonio onto the ground next to her before taking a few shots, then ducking. “We got a sniper up on the roof.”

“It's probably Claudia,” Root leaned back against the car. A smile spread across her face, “Just like old times, huh Shaw?”

“Yeah Root,” Shaw checked the number of bullets left in her magazine, “Just like old times.”

Root listened for a moment before nodded into herself, “Okay. I'm going to draw her fire. You two get back into the alley.”

“Root,” Shaw caught Root's eyes, “Are you going to get shot?”

“Maybe,” Root grinned maniacally and started running away from the car.

Shaw stood up and started shooting at where she had last seen the sniper. She started backing up toward the alley, “C'mon Antonio.”

He scrambled to follow her and slid around the corner of the alley and out of the way. Shaw started walking down the alley, looking for a way to cut back and go down the street under some cover. “Root? You still breathing?”

A car turned down the alley toward Antonio and Shaw. Reese stopped the car and rolled down the windows. Shaw opened the front door of the car and slid in. Antonio got into the backseat next to the rescued assassin. “What is going on?” Antonio asked, desperate to get a hold of the situation.

“Go that way,” Shaw pointed down the alley they had just walked down, “Go fast.”

“Root?” Reese asked into his earpiece knowing that there wasn't an answer when Shaw called.

A soft voice in their ear answered, “I'm a little busy at the moment.”

“Your idea of busy can be a lot of things,” Shaw put her hand over her ear so that she could hear Root of the engine.

Gunshot sounded in their ears. Then closer, more clear gunshots. Root hummed, “Claudia is a better shot than I thought.” She used her right hand with the gun still in it to check her shoulder. She nodded to herself when her fingers came away with blood. A tone sounded in her ear and she shot where it indicated. Claudia ducked back behind a tall shelf in the storage room they were in. “I'll meet you back at the airport.” She turned off her communication to Shaw and Reese, before running forward to duck behind a shelf.

“Root!” Shaw called into her comm piece, knowing that Root was already gone.

Reese pulled over and looked at Shaw, “You wanna get out?”

Shaw thought it over. Under normal circumstances, she would have no problem letting Root do her thing, but the number they got was probably for Root and there was a confirmed hit on Root. There was no telling how many people were actively trying to carry out the hit.

She opened the car door, “Get to the airport.”

“I was going to meet you there,” Root stepped out of the building behind Shaw. She was bleeding from her shoulder, but walked like she was on a mission. “We have to get out of here.” Root used her uninjured arm to point a gun at the door she just walked out. It opened and she shot twice, but seemed to miss whoever was inside.

Shaw grabbed Root and threw her into the front seat of the car next to Reese and got in after her. Reese took off before Shaw could close the door, shooting a few more times at Claudia who was leaning out the door, firing back.

Root pulled Shaw all the way into the car by the back of her shirt. Lights and sirens appeared behind them a few blocks away. Root gave Reese directions on how to lose them, finally freeing themselves to go to the airport after a truck pulled out of an alley that would have hit the back of the car, had Root not put her foot on top of Reese's to floor the gas pedal. It cut off the cops' chase and gave them a clear path away.

Reese pulled right into the hangar that they had just come into less than an hour prior. When he stopped the car, Shaw got out, waiting for Root to get out. “Let me see.” She took Root's uninjured arm and turned her so that she could see the wound. Shaw moved Root's shirt out of the way to look as everyone else got out of the car, “It's still in there. I'm going to have to get it out.”

Root looked over her shoulder at the assassin they were sent to save, “You can go now.”

He nodded and started walking toward the terminal, ready to get out of the country.

Reese retrieved the first aid kit from the plane while Shaw made Root sit down on a workbench. As Shaw took out the bullets with Reese's pocket knife sterilized with vodka from the plane, Root found Antonio's eyes on her. He walked over to the table and crossed his arms, trying to guard himself from any more secrets that might come flying out. He swallowed, looking her over, “Are you okay?”

Root nodded slowly, “This is pretty par for the course for me.” She slowly inhaled, “I know we have a lot to talk about.”

Antonio nodded. He moved his hand to his chin, rubbing the sides of it before dropping his arm again. “I was- worried about you.”

Root softly smiled at him, “This is just another day at the office for me.” Her eyes dropped to the floor of the hangar and Antonio took that to mean that they could talk later. He stepped up onto the airplane and talked to the pilots. Reese followed him to make sure no one had snuck on the plane while they were gone.

“He's not mad,” Shaw commented, starting to sew up Root's wound.

Root inhaled slowly, “I knew he wouldn't be. He knows that we both keep things from each other. He's got his work and his mistresses. I have my work and my -”

“If you call me a mistress I will give you a tonsillectomy right here on the table,” Shaw threatened, looking the thread through Root's skin again.

“I wasn't going to say that,” Root looked out the door of the hangar. “You don't belong to me anyway.” She smiled playfully as Shaw finished tying off her stitches.

Shaw rolled her eyes, but saw that Root's heart wasn't in the smile. She put her arms on either side of Root and looked at her, “What are you gonna do now?”

Root pressed her hands together, wedging them between her legs. She shook her head, “I don't know.” Root kicked her feet a little, “I miss Bear.”

Shaw looked at Root's face trying to find exactly what Root was going to do, but all she found was uncertainty and a hint of desperation. Shaw swallowed and pushed off the table. She put her hands in her pockets and jerked her head toward the plane, “Let's get out of here.” She walked to the plane, leaving Root on the table. She stopped cold, seeing something on one of the wheels of the plane. She tapped her earpiece, “John, get everyone off of the plane. There's a bomb.”


	5. Chapter 5

Reese directed Antonio off of the plane then followed after a quick sweep, “The copilot is dead in the cockpit.” He hopped down the stairs. Shaw hopped in the driver's seat of the car. Root got in the front with her and the men slid into the back. Once they were driving quickly away from the bomb, Root put her arm over the back of the seat, “Give me your phone.”

Antonio reached into his pocket and handed it over without a question. Root dialed and put the phone to her ear. She told the operator in Spanish that there was a bomb on a private jet in the hangar where they left it and to send the ordinance disposal team right away. Then she hung up and handed the phone back.

“You speak Spanish?” Antonio asked, having to think over all the things that he may not actually know about the woman they called Root. She also worried about all the times he thought she didn't understand her when he was talking.

Root didn't answer because it was obvious that she did. She instead addressed Shaw, “There's bar a few miles away where we'll be safe for a while.” Root looked back over the seat at Reese, “Can I borrow your phone?”

Reese handed his phone to Root. She didn't turn back around in her seat. She pressed a few buttons and a flash of light flickered behind them followed by a massive boom. She handed the phone back nonchalantly and sat straight in her seat.

Antonio whipped his head around to look behind them as flames shot into the sky from the hangar the were just in. “Did you do that?”

“Was that your bomb?” Shaw asked, not shocked at all by the explosion.

Root shook her head, “But it was a cell phone bomb. Primitive and easy to hack.” She pointed to her right, “Turn here.”

“I'm glad it wasn't yours,” Shaw offered, following Root's directions, as they headed a little farther out of town, “The wiring was embarrassing.”

“You should know better than that, Sameen,” Root smirked.

Shaw pulled into the dirt parking lot of a small bar. Antonio asked Root to talk outside for a moment. Reese and Shaw stayed outside, waiting for Root's word on the matter. She told them to go inside and order her a drink.

“Do you think Root is going to come back?” Reese asked, sitting at the bar with his arms resting on it. He leaned around his whiskey, slowly sipping it and watching everyone in the bar through the mirror behind the bartender.

Shaw looked out the window at Root who was sitting on the hood of their car and Antonio who was pacing in front of it. He was gesturing with his hands, occasionally stopping on front of Root who looked like she was trying to listen, but it was hard. She hooked the backs of her boots on the bumper of the car and rested her forearms on her knees.

“She has yacht now,” Shaw took a sip of her beer, “I wouldn't come back either.” Shaw's eyes moved back to the window, but she found Root was walking in the front door and Antonio was standing outside. “Trouble in paradise,” She asked Root who slid up next to her.

“We're both liars. We knew that when we got together,” Root took Shaw's beer from her and took a sip. “I know who put the hit out on me.” She grinned, watching Shaw wipe off the mouth of her beer before taking another drink, “There's only one person that knows we were coming here and has enough knowledge of my assets to know how to take control of them if I was dead. Which she would need to do if she was going to pay an assassin more money than I could do kill me.”

“Leo,” it clicked for Shaw as soon as Root started explaining.

Root nodded. “She's still at the house and doesn't know that we know.”

Antonio stepped into the bar and stood behind Root at the bar, “I called Leo and asked her to send us a car like you asked.”

Root nodded in approval. She stood up and touched Shaw's shoulder as she moved away, “I have to have a conversation.”

Antonio took Root's vacated seat and ordered a double bourbon. He sighed heavily. Shaw didn't want to say anything or ask him if he was okay. She personally didn't care if he was or not. Her priority was standing behind the bar by herself. She looked at Reese and they nodded to each other, both knowing that the other was thinking without saying it.

Shaw went out the back door of the bar to find that the isolated bar was more isolated than she thought. The only thing she could see out back was Root staring out over a hill with short, sparse vegetation. Root turned around when the door to the bar closed with a light slap of thin wood on fake wood.

Shaw leaned back on the worn white siding of the bar. She crossed her arms, waiting for Root to reveal her grand plan.

“The car will be here in a few hours,” Root put her hands in to her back pockets, slowly kicked her feet as she moved toward Shaw. “Claudia will be here in less time than that.”

“How much time do we have?” Shaw asked, watching the dirt blow around on the ground behind Root.

Root shrugged, nearing Shaw. She tilted her head, “About half an hour. She took off in a helicopter the second she heard about the bomb go off so she was a little ways away when Leo called her.”

Shaw could see a little spark behind Root's eyes like a silent dare. That look in Root's eyes always did something to her. Root's spark ignited a fire. Shaw could usually control the burn, but over the past few days, there was nothing she could do to control the lust that was raging through her like a wildfire. She looped her fingers through Root's belt loops and pulled Root forcefully to her, their hips meeting before Shaw's lips sought out Root's in a hungry kiss.

Root felt her stomach flutter as she was spun around, her back pressing hard against the dusty bar. Shaw's hand was down the front of her pants before she could take a breath and two fingers easily slid inside of her before the next. One of Root's legs hooked itself around Shaw's waist so that Shaw could get deeper inside of her while Shaw kissed and nipped at her neck.

Shaw listened to the soft pants in her ear every time she pushed Root closer to her release. She felt Root's hand holding tight to the back of her neck. She could feel the sweat started to build up on the backs of her shoulders, a product of the heat and the closeness of Root, paired with the physical activity happening between them.

With an adjustment of her hand, Shaw was able to stimulate Root just a little more. Root's eyes fluttered closed and her head lulled forward, resting against Shaw's shoulder.

She could feel her orgasm fast approaching. There was just something about the way Shaw moved her fingers, about the way she ran her teeth over her neck, something about the way these intimate moments were Shaw seemed so much more so when they took placed behind the walls Shaw had built to keep everyone out. A soft whimper escaped her lips when Shaw pushed her over the edge.

There was just a moment in time where Root let down all her defenses as well. After Shaw, slowly removed her fingers and buttoned her pants, Root moved the tips of her fingers to Shaw's jaw. Root drew Shaw in for a kiss like they'd never shared. It was soft and tender. It was Root being completely vulnerable in front of Shaw and Shaw having no idea what to do with it.

Root broke the kiss, dropping her hands completely. She slipped away from between Shaw and the wall, trying to erase how good it felt to kiss Shaw like that. She took a deep breath and pulled her defenses up from the shambles that they lay in around her feet. A smile rose with them before a snarky comment could leave her mouth Shaw asked, “What kind of relationship do you see happening here?”

Root blinked. It was a single question that sent all of her defense crumbling back into the ground. She swallowed and immediately crossed her arms defensively. She looked down at the dirt, a smile her only defense to the question. She shrugged as nonchalantly as she could, “The same one that's always been there. Maybe with the addition of sex.” She walked toward the door of the bar. When she opened it, she stood in the doorway, having to add a teasing, “You are getting pretty good at it.”

When the door slapped shut behind Root, Shaw indignantly muttered to herself, “Good? I'm great.” She pulled open the door after Root and stepped inside the bar.

Root was talking to the bartender in Spanish. She slipped him a large wad of money and he nodded to her. Then he picked up some keys, making his way out the front door.

“You just buy a bar, Root?” Reese asked, finishing his drink.

Root nodded, “It won't be here in a few minutes.” She walked around to the back of the bar and started looking through the liquor. She picked up a bottle of vodka and a rag, “I haven't made one of these since college.” She unscrewed the vodka, took a long sip, poured it all over the rag not caring if it got all over the floor, then shoved half of the rag into the bottle.

“Did you really go to Brown?” Antonio asked, finishing his drink and then reaching behind the bar to get a new one.

“Well I went there,” Root set her Molotov cocktail on the table and bend over behind the bar, digging in the cabinets under the bar, “Twice actually. Once to use their network to upload a worm to the NSA. One of their professors had top secret clearance and access to the network. And another time to take out a student who owed some very dangerous people some very important information which I later used to blackmail a senator.”

Antonio chuckled, “You're more fun than I thought.”

“Yeah well,” Root leaned back on the beer cooler, facing the other three people, “Anyone need another before this all goes to hell?”

Shaw slid her empty beer bottle forward, “I need something stronger”

Root grabbed the best bourbon she could find and then poured it for Shaw. She slid it to Shaw from a safe distance away and then poured one for herself. Root looked out the window as she drank. She quickly finished her drink, tossing the glass aside. She turned toward the bar and picked up one of the bottles on the bottom shelf. She used the one in her hand to hit a few of the other ones, breaking them and sending liquor spilling out all over the floor.

Shaw and Reese took that as their cue to get ready. They stood, both getting out their guns. Root hopped over the bar, picked up her molotov and walked toward the other end of the bar, “This way.”

Reese and Shaw followed knowing that following Root was always the best plan. Antonio followed because he didn't know what else to do and the situation they were in was way above his pay grade.

They stood on the creaky floor of the old bar, while Root started moving tables around. She moved chairs to seemingly arbitrary places in the middle of the room and placed tables at odd angles, turning one sideways.

Antonio glanced at Shaw before watching his fiancee, “What is she doing?”

“Whatever the voice in her head tells her to,” Shaw answered, partially to screw with Antonio, but mostly because it was true.

With one last kick of a table, Root pulled the lighter out of her pocket, “It's about to get hot in here.” She lit the molotov and tossed it onto the bar where the broken liquor was all over the walls and floor. The entire bar area lit up in flames. She turned around and looked Shaw dead in the eyes. She let out a maniacal smile just before a crash rattled the entire bar.

A car plowed through the bar, spraying fire all over the place. Reese and Antonio ducked. Root just maintained eye contact with Shaw as the entire building caught fire. The fire blazed quickly through the wooden structure, racing toward the four standing at the far end of the building. Root could hear the sound of the occupants of the car trying to get out as quickly as they could, not having anticipated driving right into an inferno.

Shaw finally grabbed Root by the shoulder and pulled her away from the fire. She knew Root would have just stood there, shooting behind herself. Shaw found that fighting technique stupid and would much rather be able to put Root behind her as the gunfire erupted.

Three guns pointed at the car right before the glass shattered from the inside, an automatic rifle blasting bullets at them as fast as they could.

Shaw grabbed the front of Root's shirt, pulling her down behind one of the tables that Root had set up. They both started firing back, Reese adding to the bullets propelling from their side of the bar.

Root's gun's slide stuck back and she saw that she was out of bullets. She tossed the gun aside and looked up at the sky like there was a camera in the fire coated ceiling. She found her answer in the flames licking at the wooden beams in the ceiling.

“Sam,” she stated to get Shaw to look at her.

Shaw turned her head and was swept up in a kiss. A hand threaded it's way in her hair pulling her hard against Root's lips. It was a desperate kiss, but there were ulterior motives behind it.

Shaw pushed Root away from the kiss, knowing that it was a diversion tactic. The same one she had used to save Root's life before she was captured by Samaritan. “Nice try,” Shaw looked up at Root who was looking affectionately at her, “That won't work on me.”

“It did,” Root waved Shaw's spare gun in her hand. She had managed to get it out of the back of Shaw's pants without her noticing, really even surprising herself. Then she took a quick step back and hopped over the sideways table they had been hiding behind, shooting up at a beam that was on fire, causing the perfect amount of damage to send it falling in a fiery meteor between them.

“Root!” Shaw yelled through the neck high stack of flaming wood in front of her.

“Shaw!” Reese called, gesturing to a table near him. It was holding up the falling flecks of building floating around. Reese called Antonio over and crawled under the table first. The pattern that Root had set out into were strategically placed tables to make a clear path for them to crawl out without being crushed. The three scrambled as fast as they could trying to get out from under the wooden tables that were starting to catch fire as gun shots continued in the direction Root had disappeared to. The end of their table tunnel at a small hole in the wall of the bar. It was charred, the fire having moved on to more flammable materials. With a little trouble Reese turned his feet toward the wall and kicked. It visibly weakened. He kicked it again and his foot went through the wall.

Shaw looked behind herself, seeing that the tunnel behind her had already fallen. She nudged Antonio closer to Reese. “C'mon John. A little faster.”

Reese used both of his feet to kick again, making a whole big enough for them to crawl out of. Reese shimmied out first, grabbing onto Antonio's hand to get him out more quickly. He was moving too slow for Reese's taste and he wanted to get Shaw out of the fiery building as quickly as possible, despite the danger that surrounded them outside.

Shaw dusted herself off as she stood in the already hot air. She didn't have to look up to know that there were more than a few guns pointed at the three of them. When she looked up, there were various kinds of guns and various kinds of people holding the guns standing in a half circle around them. She looked back at the hole they had crawled out of, seeing a wall of flames stopping a retreat.

“I got her,” Claudia called to her small posse of gun wielding lackeys. She walked around from behind the half of the bar that was blazing high into the sky. She had Root's hands zip-tied in front of her and a gun to her back. 

Shaw clenched her fists. If Root hadn't been so stupid, trying to protect her or whatever, they would have all been okay. She looked from Reese to Root. 

Root looked up at Shaw, a small smirk on her face. She shot a wink to Shaw before she was shoved onto her knees. Claudia pointed her gun at Root's head. 

Shaw could feel Antonio next to her. She could feel his fear all the way around her. Her stomach was tied up in knots that weren't familiar. She looked at all the guns around her. All the guns pointed at her. Then she looked at the gun pointing at Root. 

She shook her head. This wasn't going to be the end. She didn't accept it. She looked to Reese. He nodded minimally at her, letting her know that he'd follow her lead. 

But she didn't have a plan. At least not a good one. She formulated the best plan. The one that had the highest change of getting Root out alive and she took it.

It was a swift three steps to the nearest armed man. Bullets were already flying at her when she pulled the barrel of the gun, turning her back toward the man. She put her finger over his on the trigger and aimed. A three round burst left the gun, straight into Claudia's chest.

Reese was fighting off the two other gunmen when Shaw felt a bullet scrape her upper arm. As she neutralized the man whose gun she used, she caught Root out of the corner of her eye, using her restrained hands to strangle a member of Claudia's team.

A small smile graced her lips before she went back to killing her own assailants.

They were a team. Root, Shaw, and Reese moved together like they'd practiced for that exact moment. Reese tossed Root a knife between punches. Root set herself free before burying the knife in the neck of a woman about to shoot Shaw. Shaw knocked out a man that was about to jump Reese.

It was a beautiful, terrifying ballet. Everything happened in less than a minute and when the dust settled, Root pushed her hair out of her eyes. She was bleeding out of the corner of her mouth from being hit, but other than that she seemed unscathed. Reese was moving her jaw around, having been hit in the face as well. Shaw looked at her arm, seeing that she was bleeding the most.

Reese looked in the front of the bar that was burning to the ground in the middle of a desert. His eyes moved to their car that had caught fire on the hood as well.

Root followed his eyes, “Oh.” She quickly shuffled over to the car and opened the trunk. She pulled out two bottles of alcohol before closing it. “I saved some things.”

The foursome took the alcohol and started walking down the broken road from the bar. Shaw and Reese were bringing up the back together, passing a bottle of vodka between them.

Root and Antonio were a little ways away, talking as they walked. Root was holding the bottle of tequila in her hands, rolling it back and forth as she spoke. Shaw saw Antonio glance at her a few times. Root's back was to her so she couldn't tell what Root was saying.

“You know she'd come home if you asked,” Reese shrugged off his suit jacket and dropped it on the side of the road. It was too hot to be wearing more than one layer.

Shaw grunted in response. She knew it, but she didn't want to talk about it. She took a long drink. Yes she wanted Root to come back. She wanted Root to come back because….well obviously because Bear missed her. Shaw rolled her eyes at herself and took another drink.

Root looked at the horizon and saw a truck rumbling toward them. She waved down the driver, an old man with an amused smile when Root explained their problem to him in Spanish. She reached into her pocket and pulled out all the money that she had left. She offered it to him with a sad, puppy face.

He pushed the money back at her and gestured to the back of his truck.

Shaw sat against the cab of the truck and Reese sat in the corner next to her. Root sat on the back, her arms crossed on the side of the truck bed. Antonio took a drink of the tequila, his forearms resting on his bent knees. He softly asked her something in Spanish.

Root shook her head the answer was simple in English and Spanish, “No.”

He added something else a little more forcefully.

Root turned to him. She looked surprised and annoyed. She spoke to him again, explaining something as she looked out over the passing desert. She rested her chin on her forearms, watching the dirt give way to buildings and the city. The melancholy look on Root's face was perplexing to Shaw, who hadn't seen that look on her face before.

The old man dropped them off at a bus station and Root paid him, insisting until he relented. He thanked her and motored off.

Root walked back to the group, “We all have to split up to get across the border.” Root smiled softly at the group, knowing that everyone had the skills and resources to sneak back into the States.

“What about who put the hit on you?” Reese asked.

Root smirked, “I'll take care of that.” It faded into a slightly worried look. She nodded slowly, avoiding looking directly at Shaw. She put her hands in her back pockets and turned around. She rounded a corner and Shaw and Reese knew that if they tried to follow her, she'd had dematerialized so there was no use.

Shaw looked at Reese who shrugged. He'd snuck across more secure borders.

Then Shaw looked at Antonio. He was looking back at something between his fingers and when Shaw realized what it was, a thin smile graced her lips. Antonio was holding the engagement ring he gave to Root. If she could have, she might have felt a little bad for the guy. “Hey,” she called, “You need anything?”

Antonio started moving, pocketing the ring, and pulling out a cell phone. He moved toward Reese first, shaking his hand, “If you ever need a job other than….whatever you three do, let me know.”

Then he moved to Shaw, “You too.”

Shaw nodded. She could feel Antonio's eyes mapping her face probably trying to figure out exactly why Root had kissed her in the burning bar and not him. When realized it was fruitless, he let got of her hand and started walking off with his phone to his ear.

Shaw squared up with Reese. “See you back in New York?”

“I'll race you,” he smirked.

“You're on.”

=+=+

When Shaw got to New York things went back to normal. She was sent out after a number almost immediately. She had been back for a day when she was eating a steak at a bar in a hotel, waiting for a number, when she saw a news story on the TV hanging over the bartender's head. A drug cartel had been taken almost completely out in California. Shaw wouldn't have even payed any attention to the story except for the reporter explaining that most of the people captured had to be taken to the hospital with bullet wounds in their knees.

She looked down at her food. She was content to know that Root was okay. She would go back to looking for her in the subway and on the streets until maybe Root popped up again.

She'd been back in New York for a week when she got a mysterious text on her phone. It was only coordinates. There were only a handful of people could even get a message onto her phone. Harold never needed to be anonymous. Shaw knew who she hoped it was. Of course it could have also been the Machine, sending her to stop a crime or something.

Shaw followed the coordinates and found herself walking down the dock of the Manhattan Marina. She was following the directions on her phone to the exact location of the coordinates. A frigid wind blew off of the water and she pulled her hat down.

When she found the slip she was being guided to, she looked up at the yacht parked in it. Root was standing on the bow of the boat, a grey wool coat buttoned all the way up and black pants disappearing into boots. Her hair blew away from her face in the wind.

Shaw stood with her hands in her pockets. “You could have just texted me. Meet me at the Manhattan Marina.”

“I wasn't sure you'd come if you knew it was me,” Root answered.

“That's stupid,” Shaw countered. She nodded to the boat, “You kept the yacht.”

“I bought it – well, stole it,” Root shrugged, “And Samaritan tore apart all my safe houses in the city.” She grinned mischievously, “Do you want to see the inside.”

“Root, I-”

“I don't want you to change,” Root shook her head, holding Shaw's eyes, “I don't know what this is, but….it's fun, right?”

“It's definitely fun,” Shaw conceded. She looked out over the water, wondering how Root wormed her way under her skin when no one else in the world had ever managed to.

Root smiled gently, “I'm going to go inside and, uh, leave the door unlocked.” She didn't wait for Shaw to look back at her. She stepped inside of the yacht and close the door against the cold.

Shaw watched a tug boat putter by, thinking. She didn't know what going inside would mean, but she did know what walking away meant.

She took a deep breath and moved to the side of the boat. She put her hand on the rail, heaving herself onto the step. She looked down at her foot as it landed on the wooden flooring of the main deck.

Walking away meant she was saying no. Going inside meant that she didn't know what she was going into, but that she wanted to go into it with Root.

She slid the door open to the living room. Root had taken off her coat and was sitting on the couch, drinking some tea. Root smiled, putting the tea down. “Hey Sweetie.”


End file.
